Bulgaria sits out Europe's Ukraine funding round, refuses to send arms

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said Saturday his country is out of the next round of European funding for Ukraine, and won't hand Kyiv weapons or ammunition from the Bulgarian Armed Forces' stockpiles.

Radev tied the decision to Bulgaria's budget squeeze. He said the country is under the excessive deficit procedure and faces problems with its reserves, leaving no room for financial assistance. He added that Sofia isn't standing in anyone's way: any member state that wants to fund aid on its own can do it, and Bulgaria is blocking no one.

Poland is also stepping back, at least for now. Prime Minister Donald Tusk revealed the day before that Warsaw will temporarily halt the allocation of additional funds for buying US weapons for Ukraine through the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, mechanism. That leaves two EU and NATO members pulling back money in back-to-back announcements.

The twin moves land as Europe weighs another round of support for Kyiv, with Radev framing Bulgaria's exit as a fiscal necessity rather than a veto. Other member states remain free, in his words, to invest at their own discretion.